Missing
by Bibliophile13
Summary: In a world run by kids, lives 4 people. In this tale they search for answers on the disappearance of all the adults, before their best friend disappears as well, meeting many strange sights and people along the way. An original story that my best friend, Katie, and I came up with. Rated T just in case. I have no right to the names used in this story.
1. Chapter 1: Annabeth

Missing

Chapter 1

"If your father doesn't get home soon, we're starting dinner without him," I mumble, angrier than I should . Prim, my daughter, over hears me.

"Why you mad, mommy?"

"I'm not mad, sweetie, mommy's just a little worried about daddy, that's it."

"Why you worry?"

"You needn't worry about it honey, just please eat your dinner." She complies and starts to eat, when Jace walks in.

"Daddy!" Prim abandons her food, and gives Jace a flying hug. He stumbles back in surprise, just barely catching her. He smiles as he regains his composure.

"What's up, baby?" I continue to eat as he takes his spot at the table.

"Good evening, Annabeth! How was your day?" I continue to eat without looking up.

"Aw, come on. What did I do?" I continue to ignore him. He gets the point, and dismisses Prim. "Prim, go get ready for bed. I'll tuck you in, in a few minutes."

"But daddy…"

"Come on, Prim. It's past your bedtime anyways."

"Okay." She sighed, and she trudged off to bed.

He waits until she's left, and turns toward me, "Okay, so what did I do?"

"You _really_ don't know?" I was on the brink of blowing up on him.

"Should I be scared?"

"Well," I start off on him, slowly raising my voice as I talk. "You're always late for dinner, and this is the first time you've actually been home soon enough to send Prim to bed. And even more so, we have to leave in three years, and you aren't even bothered to spend time with her instead of your ratty crew!" By now I'm steaming, and yelling to the point of yelling.

"What do you mean twee years?" Prim says from the doorway.

Snap.

"Prim, baby girl, come here." I motioned for her to come sit on my lap. She walked up, sat on my lap, and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"When mommy and I turn 18 years old, we have to go away." Jace starts.

"For how long?"

"Forever, sweetie. It's how life works. When we leave you will be put with another mommy and daddy."

"But I wove you, I don't wanna leabe", she says, with tears in her voice.

I take my turn to explain,"Baby, it's okay, the same thing happened to us when our parents left. We didn't understand why they left, and still don't, but someday we will see each other again when you turn 18. You still have us for 3 more years," I look up at him, "and we'll make the most of those 3 years, so go to bed okay?."

"Otay mommy," she kisses me then walks over to Jace and kisses him. "Nigh-night, I wove you".

"Love you too, baby," Jace and I said simultaneously.

She waddles tiredly to bed, and I turn to glare at Jace. "Good night." I say shortly, and storm off to bed.

"Goodness, what have I gotten myself into?" Jace mumbles behind me, and I slam the bedroom door.


	2. Chapter 2: Jace

Chapter 2: Jace

"Goodness, what have I gotten myself into?" I watch as Annabeth storms off to our room. I wish I had realize how much this means to her. Now she's horribly upset with me. _Well, may as well get comfy on the couch. Sounds like I'll be sleeping out here tonight._

Laying here, I think about the whole debate, and realize Annabeth is right. _Only three more years, and then we go God only knows where._ Really, the whole thing is unfair. But no one but our family feels that way. We're the only household who stay true to the old ways and make a home out of a house. My train of thought is interrupted by our best friend walking through the door.

She catches my eye, and fails to conceal her smile. "All right, what'd you do this time?"

"Nothing!" I say, maybe a little to defensively. She raises her eyebrow.

"Nothing wouldn't have put you on the couch, would it?"

I throw up my hand in defeat. "Fine. I came home late again because of work."

"Work? You and I both know you hang with those friends of yours at the bar after work. And Annabeth knows too."

"What makes you think that?"

"She would be an idiot to miss it. You're lucky she loves you so much that she doesn't kick you out of the house." There seemed to be a twinge of resentment in that last sentence, but maybe I imagined it.

"I suppose you're right. How can I make it up to her?"

"Go in there and apologize. And mean it. That's all she really wants to hear from you. And try not to make the same mistake." She says, heading to her room, "Night."

"Night, Rose."

I head off to bed, and see her laying there with a book. She refuses to look up at me, but she does gain a slight scowl.

I walk over to her side of the bed and kneel, looking up at her apologetically. She tries to hide her smile, but I can tell she is enjoying this.

With puppy-dog eyes, I plead, "I'm sorry, and you're right." She finally looks toward me, "I need to start thinking about Prim, and the family… And, I love you." I finish with a slight smile.

She grins, leans over to kiss me. "Thank you. Now get in bed, goof ball!" I walk over to my side of the bed, and slip under the covers. I say a silent thanks to Rose before I fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Jace

Chapter 3: Jace

"Wake up baby, daddy's got a special day planned for you." I whisper, lightly shaking Prim's shoulder. I want Annabeth to be able to sleep in, and she wakes at the slightest of noises.

"What do ya mean, daddy? What special day?" She flutters her eyes open, and slowly sits up in bed, rubbing her tired blue eyes.

"It's gonna be just you and me, sweetie. There are some really, really cool places outside town that I'm gonna take you to see. I set out some clothes for you. Get dressed so we can go. And keep quiet, we don't wanna wake up mommy." She bounces out of bed, now excited for a day with her dad. I walk out of the room to finish preparing for the day. "Let's see, I've got the picnic basket with lunch, the soccer ball, and the lantern." I load everything into my backpack and the basket on my bike. I step into the living room the same time as Prim does. "Ready, sweetie?"

"Yeps! Oops, to loud." She chuckles. Grinning, I take her in my arms and walk out with her, stopping in the doorway to leave a note to Annabeth.

Along the way, Prim starts to tell me the stories of the silly things she does with her friends. Playing jumping- ropes and hide- and- seek and all the silly things little girls love to do. Listening to her made me realize how much I really don't spend time with her. The guilt settles over me again, but a lot lighter now that she is with me.

Our first stop was a place that used to be called Central Park. Nowadays, it's quite abandoned, and slightly grown over, but the years have been good to the place. The grass is soft and wildflowers are in every step. The well worn paths still remain, along with the little buildings that spot the lawn. I show Prim a game that my friends and I came up with where you kick the soccer ball to the other person until someone misses the kick. She loves it! We play until high noon, where we pack up and go to one of my favorite places to go.

As we arrive, I start to smile as I remember the days I would sneak away from my friends to be here, and stay until I was due for supper. Occasionally I would take some blankets and a pillow, along with a basket of food, and spend the whole night here. It was my secret sanctuary, but I'm glad to share it with my daughter.

She gawks at the building, the same way I did when I accidently stumbled upon the hotel years before. "This was daddy's favorite place _ever_ when he was a little kid. I would spend all day exploring the building. My old map may even be here still. Come on, let's go inside." I grab the food as she runs eagerly toward the door. When I catch up to her, she is walking around the lobby, her bright blue eyes wide with wonder. "Come on, this isn't even the best part."

I lead her farther into the building, enjoying the amazement on her face. Finally, we reach the room I love the most. "This way." I motion for her to come and see.

Inside is a grand restaurant with elegant tables and large chandeliers. The dark pink carpet is plush, and the walls are a creamy white color. I lead Prim to a seat and set out our lunch before us, the lantern sitting at the center of the table.

"This is the kind of place where people used to eat all the time, years and years ago."

"What happened, daddy?"

I decided she had to know someday, and begin to tell the tale.


	4. Chapter 4: Jace

Chapter 4: Jace

"A long time ago (50 years before), in the year 2012, something really big happened. You see, back then, kids lived with their real mom and dad, and mom and dad would stay in that house for a very, very long time. Their parents would teach them things, and then when they got older, they would leave. But only because they wanted to. They wanted to explore the world. But in 2012, all of the adults left. No one knows where they went. And so, all the kids were in charge. Some really bad things happened for a while, like taking and hitting and stuff like that. Then one kid said, 'This is bad. We aren't getting along anymore.' And so the kids decided to help each other. All the big kids were in charge of the little kids-"

"Like you are to me, daddy?" Prim interrupts.

"Yep. Just like you and me. But the really big kids didn't like that idea. They were all 18 years old or older. So, everyone older than 18 left to some secret place far, far away. And that's how it's been ever since. It's how things go, sweetie." Her expression is blank, making me uncertain if she really understands. Maybe she can't. I decide to change the subject. "Hey, you wanna see something really cool?" Her eyes light up at the idea. "Come on, then."

She follows me to the other side of the room, to something that used to be known as a piano. She recognizes it as well from one of her little teaching picture books, and she is awed.

"Daddy, it's a piano, real life piano!" She hops on the seat, and slams the keys excitedly. I take all of my will not to cringe.

"That's not all I wanted to show you." I slide onto the bench, and place my hands in their proper spots on the piano. And I begin to play, losing myself in the music, only seeing my fingers on the keys and the smile on my daughters face.


End file.
